Reshuffling Time and Events

My better half, Joanne, chihuahua Oreo, and myself, the driver, headed from Yorkville Il to Wood Dale, Il, about an hour’s drive. I decided to listen to an audiobook, One Second After, by William R. Forstchen, an interesting guest on the “Coast to Coast” morning radio program.

Joanne does not like to think about doom and gloom, so I needed to turn down the sound, low enough for her to talk when she felt like it. I decided to go east on the Illinois 88 tollway and use the 355 tollway north and get off at North Avenue (Illinois 64).

As we approached the North Avenue exit ramp, something occurred in the story at 53 and 64. I just shrugged off the 64 thing, but interestingly, the tollway 355 is the new Illinois 53.

After we got off and turned right, the next light was at old route 53. When the red light turned green and I was crossing 53, the CD just stopped playing. The player light was still on. I started pushing buttons–forward, rewind, stop–and gave up.  After about a half minute, it just started again where it left off!

But that was not the end of it.  We were about three-quarters of the way to our destination. Now we had to go to Wood Dale Road, about 10 or 15 minutes down North Avenue, and turn left.

As we made the turn, the story now involved two towns arguing about water rights.

A few minutes later, the younger daughter and the father were looking for Elizabeth, the older daughter. They continued talking about Elizabeth as we came up to the next street with a traffic signal.

There we stared straight at the yellow street sign, “Elizabeth.”   And as I had a feeling,  I stopped,  lowered my window, and stuck my neck out to look straight down the street on my left. Just then the little sister said,  “That’s Elizabeth.”